Waning Youth
by MCalhen
Summary: Rewrite. Eyes and Kanone grew up in England, and they had rather unusual childhoods as Blade Children. Manga spoilers for both Spiral and Spiral Alive.
1. Chapter 1

_I finally took down the old Waning Youth after two years. I started rewriting it. My apologies to those who had saved it and put it on alert - it's been over two years since I last wrote fanfiction, but Spiral pulled me in again. I hope I've improved since then. Critiques and reviews are appreciated._

* * *

><p>Evangeline Hilbert had been feeding a litter of stray kittens their breakfast with her son in the kitchen when she heard the doorbell. The cheerful chime rang through the humble home. Her boy was struggling to lift a bag of cat food over half his weight, but she didn't lend him a hand. What would he ever learn if she did these things for him? It was Kanone who had brought home those kittens after finding them mewing over their cold mother's corpse under a bridge. It was important he learned the responsibility of caring for other lives, especially when she planned to teach him the value of taking one.<p>

"Kanone, you finish in here while I answer the door," said Eva. Oftentimes, she wished she could afford servants to answer the door for her – but who was that rich anymore?

She swung open the door to find Lydia Rutherford in tears on her porch. Even the lavender luster of her hair seemed lifeless, and a tiny fist was balled against her pale chin. Lydia looked as if she were ready to bite the skin from her knuckles.

"What's wrong?" asked Eva, guiding her into the house.

"Our h-hu-," hiccupped Lydia.

"Huh?"

"Husky!" The word sounded more like a sneeze, and Lydia's petite frame shook from the effort to say it.

"Your husky? What about him?"

"Eyes st-strangled him!"

"Lydia, please breathe." Eva placed a warm hand on her friend's back and rubbed soothing circles as she directed her to the living room. Once she sat the frail woman on a chair, she took the edge of the accompanying ottoman. Her hand fell to Lydia's knee and cradled it.

It took several minutes for the other woman to calm down. Eva sat patiently with her, and when Kanone came in to implore, she sent him away with some labor intensive chore she was sure would be good for him. "And don't eavesdrop!" she called out to his back as he left.

"Eva, what have I done?" Lydia sniffled into a tissue she had yanked from the box on the lamp table next to her. "What have we done?"

There was little in common between the two women – Evangeline thought the difference between her and Lydia Rutherford was like comparing a criminal to a lady. There were things Evangeline had done and still did that she wasn't ashamed of, and never would be, but people like Lydia were too frail to acknowledge anything darker.

The two did have a couple of things that connected them. One was their companionship, and the other was the blood their sons shared.

"What's that got to do with anything?" asked Eva with forced patience. The conversation was transforming into one very familiar with her.

"You know what it means!" The woman's soft blue eyes were wide, hysterical. "Can't you sense it, Eva? They're not normal boys. What child strangles his pet dog?" Her voice was constricted. "I love him, but this has got to end. This isn't the only animal he's killed. He's only five! I've tried to distract him, but he always slips away somehow."

"I'll tell you what would work," grumbled Eva.

Lydia's eyes became narrow slits, and her hands fell to her lap, still clutching her sodden tissue. "You know I could never…"

"Then you ought to think of something to discipline him," said Eva sharply. "Boys can be rough, dirty, and boisterous, and by all means, you should let them live a little. You can't coddle him, but you can't let him misbehave either. You've got to set a balance and stick with it." When she saw the wounded expression on Lydia's face, she softened. "Darling, I know you can think of something." She lifted her hand from the woman's knee and embraced the woman's fingers with her own.

"I've read that children ought to have plenty of activities to keep their hands and minds busy," said Lydia gently. "You know, a sport or an instrument."

"You have a piano," said Eva.

"But I've tried that, but he runs off when I sit him down to teach him."

"Then tie him to the chair, if you have to!"

"I-I couldn't possibly do that."

"I'll do it for you." Eva stood and began to roll up the sleeves of her blouse. Lydia trembled as she stood, so Eva grasped her wrist and pulled her up. "It won't hurt him," said Eva, winking at her. "Children are tougher than you think."

"But I…" Lydia faltered, looking away. "You're right, something has to be done. I must sound foolish to you."

"You've never been the kind of person to meet a problem with brute force, Lydia, and you don't have to start now. I don't expect you to." There was a soft spot where her companion was concerned. They might have disagreed on how to raise children, Eva taking a more militant approach than Lydia, but they had also come from different backgrounds. "I know our children aren't the same as others. They're Blade Children, but doesn't that make them more resilient? You've got to be tough on them a little bit, but I'm not going to undermine your discipline and instill my own. He's your son. I'm just going to help you along the way."

Eva called to her son at the bottom of the staircase. Kanone hurried down, one of the Himalayan kittens gathered in his arms. "We're going to see Eyes." The boy's face lit up eagerly at the thought of going to his brother's house. "You can take the kitten, if you like."

Kanone set the kitten down on the floor next to the front door and pulled on his shoes. The kitten swiped playfully with his shoe strings, making him giggle. Lydia watched the boy with a smile.

"See, he's not unhappy," said Eva cheerfully. She affectionately tousled her boy's hair as soon as he had picked up the kitten and joined her at her side. It was true that she might have gone too far and taught her son a great many things the law would disapprove of. The entire world might have cringed that she favored the smell of gunpowder over baby powder, and she'd breastfed while she cleaned her guns in the living room. Kanone woke up early on Saturday mornings to be trained in weaponry, not to watch cartoons. "Children need a little structure, and you'll find your own way of giving Eyes some, Lydia."

Eva met Lydia's gaze and grinned. To her relief, Lydia's face was firm and full of resolve. That was just the thing she was going to need when they returned to the Rutherford estate to see to Eyes. It wouldn't have the same effect unless Lydia was ready to stand straight and take charge over her son.

* * *

><p>"Eyes, sit down on the piano bench," said Lydia, pointing to the seat. She had already prepared sheet music and uncovered the keys on the baby grand before pulling her son into the room by his hand with a new firmness strange to him.<p>

The five-year-old shifted his gaze to Eva, who stood next to his mother. Whenever Evangeline Hilbert was around, his mother seemed to undergo changes. It only happened when he'd crossed some line. This time, it was about their pet dog. He hadn't cared for that husky – it had barked at him often. The sound of it had always made him want to hurt it, and he had found a cruel satisfaction at finding a loose piece of wire in the tool shed and binding it around the animal's neck. The canine had thrashed and fought, but as it gasped for air, the thin metal cut through the skin and blood tainted its fur. It had thrilled him until the body fell limp to the grass.

He didn't regret a moment of it.

"Eyes, sit down," his mother repeated.

Eyes glared coldly at her. Was this her idea of a punishment? He folded his arms, challenging her. That was usually enough to make his mother back off, but she was persistent enough to grab for his arm. He jerked away.

"Eyes Rutherford," she scolded. "You're going to learn piano, even if I have to tie you down and make you!"

His eyes widened briefly before he realized it had to be a bluff. His mother would never physically handle him.

But Evangeline Hilbert would, if she had his mother's permission. He looked over Kanone's mother carefully. Then he glowered at Lydia. "You wouldn't."

"I'll get the rope," said Eva, briskly walking past him to leave the room. Eyes couldn't escape her – she was too fast, and she would capture him even if Lydia wouldn't.

"It won't help," said Eyes to his mother desperately. It wasn't that he loathed the idea of playing the piano, but that he had already realized both Kanone and him were different from other children. Something inside of them made them behave wickedly sometimes. He didn't believe there was anything that could make that go away. "Mum!"

Lydia's expression was one of maternal love. "I'm doing this for your own good, Eyes." She reached out to him, and he allowed her to embrace him. He held his forehead against her abdomen.

Her grip on him tightened suddenly, and she lifted him up. "Eva, quick!"

He kicked out instinctively. If he hadn't had so much trust in her, he would have seen the trick earlier. He struggled, and he knew he would have won against her eventually if Evangeline hadn't rushed into the room with a new chair and climbing rope in her hand. She slipped a foot around the leg of the piano bench, slid it away, and replaced it with the chair. It had a back to keep him tied to the spot.

Lydia placed him into the chair. He made a move to get up, but Eva pushed him back down roughly. He silently fought while she roped him down, all the way to his ankles. Only his arms and hands remained free.

Eva situated the chair to one side close to the piano keys while Lydia seated herself on the piano bench. "Eva will watch closely that you don't use your hands to free yourself," said Lydia. "We'll just continue to tie you down each time until you behave yourself. If you don't love piano, we can find something else to do, but you're going to try it. If you're good during today's lesson, you can go outside and play with Kanone. He's in the backyard right now."

Eyes nodded obediently. He would succumb to her wishes if they meant this much to her. Perhaps piano wouldn't be such a terrible distraction. They didn't have anymore pets left for him to kill, and Lydia hardly let him outside enough for him to find wildlife on his own. He was going to need something to pass the boring days when Kanone wasn't around.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN:** I suppose I ought to warn everyone how dark this story gets, especially for those who never saw the original/don't remember the cricket scene. If you've read the manga all the way through, however, then you can't be completely surprised by the sadistic tendencies some of these children have...? Anyway, I said this is about Kanone and Eyes, and the focus is mostly on them, but other characters will be involved. Rio especially. I've combined a separate fic idea with this one because they work out well and go along with the same theme. _

_Concrit/reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

><p>For the first few times after Lydia began piano lessons, she had to tie Eyes to his seat. With a simple request, he would sit down on his chair, but if she didn't keep her eyes fixed on her son, he would run off. She had had enough of his strange impulses to kill, so she would chase him down with the threat to call Evangeline. That often got him back in the music room, but it didn't keep him confined long, so she would gather up the rope and tie it just the way her friend had taught her.<p>

Once lessons started, he seemed content enough to learn. She smiled with relief when he would reach out to the key she pointed out on sheet music. During these sessions, she felt her bond with Eyes deepening – they had finally found something to connect them.

Those were the times that when she was fond of her choice to birth one of the Blade Children, when she was not so fearful of her son as much as the arrival of Hunters who might take him from her.

* * *

><p>The Himalayan kittens had grown a considerable size in the past three months. Kanone often played with them in his free time, when Eyes was confined to the Rutherford's music room and could not come out to join him. He had been around other cats, but his exposure to this particular breed had quickly made them a favorite. They were very sweet in temperament when they settled down from all their energy.<p>

There was another cat of a different breed the Hilbert family also cared for. Kanone had found the moggie wandering around outside months before. The male cat had ginger strips similar in color to the hairs on the top of Kanone's head. This tabby had often climbed their private fence as a large, curious kitten. One day, when he was nearly full-grown, the cat sat at their back porch and fussed until Evangeline agreed to let Kanone bring it inside.

Kanone had named the cat Georgie. Unlike the Himalayan kittens, which all seemed to stay around the house if they bothered to wander outside at all, Georgie could leave the block and be missed for several days. He would leave dead birds and mice at the back doorstep upon his return. Kanone would let him inside, but Georgie never wandered upstairs to sleep with the rest of the family. The Himalayans always preferred the comfort of Kanone's bed while Georgie had walk of the house.

Kanone was fascinated with Georgie's tomcat habits. Ever since Kanone was small, Evangeline would allow him to bring in cats – she always appeared reluctant and claimed the house was full enough, but it was the one subject on which she always caved if Kanone used any typical childish faces to silently plea with her. He had learned quite a bit about cats in his short lifetime. There was nothing about them that didn't intrigue him.

The hunt, especially, was something that always captivated him. Georgie brought back his prizes after they had taken their last breath, but Kanone never got the chance to see the chase.

Something inside of him wanted to.

His mother considered many small animals expendable pests and had no qualms about setting up traps to get rid of mice, rats, and even squirrels. If she spotted one and had a gun handy, it was the countryside and no neighbors could complain if she lifted it up and shot at the creatures while lounging on the lawn furniture out back. If what she hit happened to be a rabbit, it became their dinner.

Eva _always_ had her gun on hand, and she _never_ missed her targets.

Kanone had discovered the location of every mousetrap around the property. There were two in the empty garage, one was tucked behind a barrel of gunpowder in the shed, and several others placed in the cellar beneath the house – all the places where their pets couldn't entered. Evangeline never set up traps elsewhere in case one of the cats was injured by a trap, and the felines usually took care of whatever managed to slip into the house. Kanone knew she never used poisons, for fear the mouse would slip outside before it died and its blood digested by one of their pets.

He searched around one weekend while his mother was out hunting deer to see if any mice had been trapped and were still squirming under the bent wires. To his dismay, one was dead, and most of the traps were empty. He was lucky enough to find one in the cellar that was still alive, and with some luck, he caught two others scurrying about the boxes of weaponry. With the help of a spare cardboard box and a broom, he swept the mice into it. Before they were able to chew through the flimsy walls, he scooped them into a coffee can with remnants of gunpowder still gathered in the aluminum creases and clapped the plastic lid over it with a few tiny holes poked in. They wouldn't need much oxygen – they wouldn't need much of anything once he was finished preparing his project.

He returned to the inside of the house, locking the doors behind him as his mother had taught him. It was as natural to him as checking around the house for the slightest disturbance. His mother hadn't skimmed around the topic of a new and dangerous faction that had recently come into being – the Hunters.

However, there was only one type of pursuit and capture he was interested in for the time being. He had called Georgie into the house as he'd gone inside. His mother's office was the best place for what he planned. She kept everything in bulky filing cabinets that rested flat on the carpets, and the gap under the desk was too large for a hiding spot. The furniture couldn't protect the mice he released in the closed room. The only problem in his setup was the space under the door, and he had solved that by placing a strip of wood along the bottom. On the desk, he set down a rusty cake pan and a scalpel.

The mice had nowhere to go.

Georgie's deep amber eyes fixed on the targets as they were released. Kanone rested on the floor for a decent view of the show and watched the mice scurry about in confusion, unfamiliar with the territory they had been placed in. Georgie sometimes dared a glimpse at the other mice as he sat and twitched his tail. He seemed to be deciding on which one was preferable.

He spotted the first of the three – the one with a limp, where its foot had been caught under the metal of the trap. It hobbled about, leaving a trail of crimson smears across the cream-colored carpet. Kanone then realized then that it would have been better to have left it to die in the trap – Georgie stood and took off for it.

It was in this moment that the mice realized they were about to be hunted. The one with the limp could not take off like the healthy two that found the edges of the room and ran along the trim. The injured rodent thrashed about as Georgie crushed it within his jaws, sharp teeth breaking through the skin as it squealed loudly. Its cries eventually died. The chase had been too easy.

The other two rodents were still spinning in circles frantically along the walls when Georgie sought a way out of the room with his fresh kill. Kanone called him over, but the feline seemed reluctant to share. It was one thing to leave an offering and another to be demanded to hand over a carcass. When Kanone stood and approached the cat, he took off. This chase seemed hopeless until, at last, Georgie spit the mouse out. He seemed to think he would be scolded, but Kanone stroked him reassuringly.

"Good, Georgie, now go get the other two." Kanone pointed out the other two mice that had slowly begun to settle down. Both seemed to sit on alert – much like a person who had been informed they were standing in a field of land mines and their next step would bring about an explosion and instant death.

The cat only glowered sulkily at Kanone as his prey was scooped into the boy's hands and placed in the cake pan. Kanone flipped it onto its belly and worked the scalpel into the torn flesh with the help of a ballpoint pen, extending the wound so that blood and organs spilled out. The gray fur of the mouse dampened like dark umber. The black eyes of the creature were wide, the terror evident as it had been crushed. As Kanone dissected the animal on his mother's desk, he found bits of rib bone that had snapped during the hunt buried in tendrils of fleshy insides.

And Georgie had discovered something of his own – another mouse.

Kanone glanced up when he noticed a blur of orange fur dart around in the corner of his vision. He abandoned his tools in the pan and dropped to all fours to get a good look at the pursuit. This chase was far better for the cat, and Kanone grinned in satisfaction. His green eyes were much like Georgie's, his pupils narrowed into feline slits.

The mouse leapt across the carpet at an admirable pace, but it had little luck in escaping without hiding places or escape routes. Kanone watched carefully as the cat snapped the mouse up – if he had blinked, he might've missed it. It died much the same way as the first. Blood slid down the side of Georgie's chin and dripped onto the floor.

Though he hadn't heard the front door, Kanone straightened up as he sensed that his mother was within the house. He quickly opened each drawer of the desk to find one spacious enough to hold the pan, but they were either too narrow or not deep enough. Georgie had found a corner and was guarding his prey – even if Kanone had tried to seize it, the cat wasn't going to give it up.

There was too much evidence to take care of it, and the blood stains might never come out of the carpet. Kanone was too fearful to call out to Evangeline, and surely the quiet in the house had tipped her off, for she was also silent. He had already factored in that he might be caught and was prepared for that, but he was in no hurry to face her wrath.

As he waited for her to track him down, he pursued the last mouse. Using a large hole-punch he found sitting on the desk, he continually blocked the mouse's path until he directed it right into the coffee cup. The rodent would have to be disposed of later.

The door to the office opened, pushing the wooden beam aside with a noisy clatter. Georgie darted out of the room past Evangeline with his second kill still clamped in his mouth.

Kanone stared at his mother, who had quickly recovered from the surprise of having an orange cat dart past her. Eva was taking in the sight of the damage with critical eyes, which narrowed at each piece of evidence that gathered.

"_Kanone Hilbert!_"


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN:** I hate leaving too long of a note, but I think it's necessary here. I wasn't sure how Rio might address Kiyotaka at first, but I'm sure the way he introduced himself when they first met is reason for her to say "Narumi-_sama_" even if she uses "Kiyotaka-sama" later. I don't know, I kind of hate that I had to use any of that at all, because I don't work well with honorifics. I avoid them entirely, but it's difficult to write Spiral fanfiction without. ): **This is not lolicon.** Also, I attempted to make Rio childish without overdoing it, but I mean, the Blade Children that were involved in the war had to deal with serious issues...she's a young one in mourning, so it's difficult. ): _

_Any concrit would be helpful. VERY helpful. I reread through some chapters for this to make sure I wasn't messing with canon, but if you see _anything_ wrong with this at all, **point it out to me so I can fix it**. I'm self-conscious about having my facts mixed up._

* * *

><p>It took Rio Takeuchi nearly an hour to pack her suitcase. The child had been reduced to a few outfits, a knife her mother had given her for protection, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, some important photographs, and some ribbons for her hair. She perched on the top of the luggage, staring into the mirror of the bedroom. She would have waited downstairs, but she couldn't carry her case.<p>

She stared woefully not so much at her reflection as the pitiful job tying her hair into pigtails. For the first time in six years, she had put her hair up instead of her mother. The ashen strands had tangled even as she attempted to brush them straight, the bristles catching against knots. The tugs against her scalp made her eyes water, but she had determined that she would set her pigtails each day forward, now that her mother could no longer do it for her.

Her uncle had no desire to take her in and had made arrangements with a man named Kiyotaka Narumi for her care. The stranger had showed up the day before the funeral. He knew everything about her and her mother. It was more than she could say for her uncle, who frequented the tiny apartment to deal with all the complications that followed death. He seemed more concerned with paperwork than mourning and left Rio to her own devices.

Somewhere in another room, she could hear him directing movers on where the furniture would be sent. Most of it would be auctioned off and the money would go to Rio, when she turned eighteen. Her uncle had been rather peculiar about this, but after speaking with Kiyotaka, he had acted rather contrite. Whatever the young man had told him must have kept him from making anymore hateful comments towards her mother or Rio's small inheritance.

Kiyotaka Narumi would be arriving soon to collect her. Rio didn't dare ask her uncle to carry down her luggage, but she had a warm feeling that the young man, who appeared to be around twenty, would.

She sat still, listening as the movers shifted furniture. There wasn't much of it. The apartment was small and temporary – only the bedroom Rio had shared with her mother had held much. The futons were out, and Rio had laid out her clothes across them before deciding which outfits she preferred to take, and which she would be forced to leave behind. They had moved a lot as they ran – the two had hidden from the Hunters for months. There had been a brief bit of relief over the past two weeks when news of Yaiba Mizushiro's death reached them, but it was temporary, for Rio's mother had been killed in a robbery at the grocery store.

It was a bad neighborhood. Even so, Rio would have rather waited on the sidewalk with her pocketknife than listened to her mother's older brother tear everything from their last home. Anyone could have uprooted their belongings – anyone but _him_.

She twisted her head in the direction of the doorway when she heard Kiyotaka's familiar voice. Within a few minutes, the door slid open, and a tall man with brown hair stepped into the room.

"You're packed already, Rio-chan," said Kiyotaka cheerfully.

"I can't lift it," she admitted, patting the top of her luggage.

He stepped across the room, careful not to trample on the futons or leftover clothing. Rio noticed his right hand was still wrapped in bandages, as it had been just two days before. Even so, he said, "I'll carry it down for you."

"Thank you," she said, standing up and bowing at him. One of her hair ribbons loosened and fell forward as she did so.

"Rio-chan, lets fix your hair," said Kiyotaka. From inside his white blazer, he pulled out a comb. "Sit back down."

"What about your hand?" she asked. The suitcase wobbled as she lowered onto it. She looked at him indirectly through the use of the mirror.

"I'm confident I can still do it!" He smiled at her reflection. It was evident his right hand was the dominant one, but even with his left he managed to easily remove the ribbons and comb out every tangle. He then used his right palm and his thumb to hold the hair in place as he parted it and worked on each tail. "I had a little accident while playing the piano, so I can't use my fingers for a while, but this hand is still useful." He held out one bundle of her tresses. "Here, hold this while I put the ribbon on."

After he had neatly tied a bow on her right side, he worked on the left until the job looked just as beautiful as her mother's had been. There was some childish dismay that she suppressed – he could style her hair with broken fingers but she couldn't with two capable hands.

"You just need some practice." He patted her on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Narumi-sama!" She leapt off the luggage and beamed at him.

"You can call me Kiyotaka-sama," he said, winking at her as he took the handle of the suitcase up. "Did you make sure to pack everything you wanted?"

"Yes," she said solemnly, nodding. There was nothing to remind her of her mother but all the beautiful ribbons sitting in a satin bag within a special compartment of her case along with a few pictures. Everything else wouldn't have held as much meaning for her, or it was too large to confine to her suitcase.

"Clever girl," said Kiyotaka.

The door slid open and Rio's uncle entered the room with two movers behind him. "I thought you had already left," he grumbled, eyes cast downward to the floor.

"We're leaving right now, Takeuchi-san," said Kiyotaka, sweeping past him. He escorted Rio down the narrow apartment building stairs.

Rio was relieved to be away from her uncle. He had been cold and distant, leaving her to mourn alone. This sociable nature of Kiyotaka's put her at ease. After he'd loaded her suitcase into the trunk, he allowed her to sit up front with him.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You'll be living with me temporarily until we set you up somewhere permanent. There are a lot of Blade Children losing their lives and their mothers."

"What?" Rio could only remember what her mother had told her when her father died. With Yaiba Mizushiro gone, the Hunters' biggest threat was eliminated, and they would relax.

"I know what your mother told you, and that isn't so," said Kiyotaka softly as he drove on. They were leaving the neighborhood Rio was only vaguely familiar with. "The Hunters now feel they have the upper hand. They'll be dangerous opponents with their confidence."

"They'll kill me." Rio said it matter-of-factly as she stared out the front window. She succeeded other young children despite her smaller stature in many ways, even before her mother's death. The emergence of the Hunters had seen to it that she mature faster than others, and she was naturally smarter and keener than the rest of the kids in her apartment building. It didn't mean she hadn't known how to play hopscotch. There had always been time to be a child, even while on the run.

"You still have hope, Rio-chan" said Kiyotaka. "All of the Blade Children do."

Rio peered over at him curiously.

Kiyotaka Narumi smiled ahead at the road. "His name is Ayumu."


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN:** Do I need to tell **anyone** how excited I was about writing these fight scenes coming up? I don't think I enjoy writing anything as much as I enjoy writing a physical fight. Or violence. I'm a terrible human being._

_I'm also horribly deceptive. I write short chapters, but there will probably be a lot of them. I think it's easier to read, personally, if there are lots of breaks and the parts are short. Also, **cliffhangers**. I must have them. :D_

* * *

><p>Sweat dripped down Evangeline's neck and collarbone. The handle of the gun in her right hand let off a metallic smell that transferred to her palm. A thorough check around the perimeter revealed that there was one man in the garage. The others were off the property, somewhere in the woods.<p>

Kanone was in the house. She had given him a switchblade and a small pistol for self-defense. She had noticed some peculiar evidence in their backyard while she'd been shuffling about the kitchen, looking for something to prepare for dinner. There were always signs of intruders, and that included when the Hunters came around. Eva's training in the special forces had educated her on what to look for. Something was always amiss, and even footprints in the manicured lawn could tip her off.

The Hunters were sometimes reckless and didn't plan their attacks beforehand, but others were clever. They knew not to leave gates or doors ajar, not to smash the flowerbeds, and to wear gloves so they didn't leave their prints behind. Eva just had sharper eyes and ears than they had brains. Georgie helped her a bit by perking up in the backroom. He had stood on the dryer, hissing and letting out strange, guttural growls. Sometimes he did that when another animal had wandered into his area, but when Eva went to check for a four-legged critter, she found muddy partials of shoeprints. She put her own foot next to it to compare sizes. Although she wasn't wearing her clunky, leather boots – she worn flat-soled sandals around the house – she could tell they belonged to a man. That, or a behemoth of a woman had stepped onto her back patio.

After checking around the house and noticing certain things were inches from where they ought to have been, she hurried inside, prepared her boy, and changed shoes so she could more effectively maneuver. It wasn't that she couldn't beat ass in sandals, but there was more satisfaction in kicking a Hunter's face in if she had on boots.

She followed the partial footprints to the garage and waited. There was no access to the garage from the house. The Hunters had tried that doorway a couple of months ago and she had made sure to seal it up for good. Until she was confident that Kanone could handle them better on his own, it was better to narrow down their points of entry. They would soon realize that the garage wasn't an ideal route into the house. Either they would come out to find a new place to enter the house, to wait inside until they saw Kanone alone in the yard and slipped out to attack him then, or when she dragged their dead carcass out.

She suspected there was one or two – she'd only found one set of footprints, but she knew Hunters rarely worked alone. There was word out on her family already. Hunters could take on unsuspecting Blade Children, especially if their parents hadn't told them the truth behind their birth or hardly realized it themselves, but Evangeline Hilbert had a reputation.

If the enemy believed there was power in numbers, they were mistaken. It only increased their risk of mistakes. They could crawl like cockroaches all over and inside of her house, but she would smoke them out.

Evangeline crept along the side of the garage and found the cat door she had set up for Georgie, for those nights he might come home while they were sleeping and needed a temporary shelter until they could let him inside. It had another beautiful purpose – it was hidden at the side of the garage where she kept the rubbish bin, and when Georgie entered, he stepped out onto the shelf under a work bench. She had place enough stuff around the entrance to keep it from appearing obvious to human eyes, but it was the right sized path for a cat to slip in and out without knocking things over.

It was also perfect for the smoke grenade she tossed into the garage. She heard it clatter noisily against the cement and the hiss as it released gas, but she dropped the rubber flap and hurried to the back. A man in a suit had hurried out the back door, but she was faster. She shot him at the side of the head so he was dead before he could cry out, and her gun had a silencer on it. The last thing she needed was to tip off the others that she knew they were around.

She lifted him onto her back and carried him through the laundry room and into the kitchen. Kanone rushed to her side to help.

"Take his legs," she said, shoving him off. With Kanone's hold on the Hunter's ankles, they stretched him flat on the tiles. "He's fucking heavy! I had to kill him, but when I find the others, I'll try to keep one of them alive long enough to find out what I can." She patted him down and systematically stripping him of all his weapons, ammo, and identification. His radio she clipped on her belt.

"What about Eyes?" Kanone asked.

Evangeline straightened up. No doubt that just down the country lane, there were more Hunters waiting to ambush the Rutherfords. Only Eyes knew some methods of self-defense, but his mother had been reluctant to allow him any weapons after the multiple animals he had killed. Lydia was afraid of encouraging the habit without realizing that it took self-discipline to learn how to wield one. Eva was trying to instill that in her son.

"Kanone, let's check on them," she said. Though she'd taught her son many things since he was three and his motor skills had improved, she couldn't expect him to stay alone and protect himself, and she definitely couldn't send him over to help out Lydia and Eyes on his own. She pulled him over to the kitchen pantry. Although the middle shelves were filled with food product, she left the floor clear so she could pull up a loose board and reach into the floor for extra bullets. She stored them in her pack.

"What about the cats?" asked Kanone.

Eva sighed and stared at her son's worried face. She reached over and kissed the top of his head. "The Hunters are after you, not your pets. They won't harm anyone but the Blade Children and the ones trying to protect them."

_And it was all over some bullshit about the Blade Children going insane when they were twenty and becoming mindless killers, _she thought.

Her child frowned. Like most people, he must have thought if they were out of his sight, they'd be in danger.

"They'll get hurt if you take them with you," she said bluntly. "They could get caught in the crossfire. What if I need to use a grenade?"

"You can't use a grenade at Eyes' house," said Kanone.

Lydia _would_ have her head if she dared, but who could scold her if the Hunters did and she used them back? "Kanone, I don't want to hear it. You're going to listen to your mum like a good boy, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," he muttered, unconvinced.

He was only six. She decided to cut him some slack for being a little disgruntled with her. "Let's go, baby. Do you have that pocketknife and gun?"

He nodded.

"Let me hear it, Kanone."

"Yes, ma'am."

"That's better."

She gentle nudged him out of the kitchen, towards the front door. Would there be someone waiting out front for them? She was certain of it.

She pulled another smoke grenade out of her pocket and opened the front door a crack. With her arm across Kanone's chest, the two pulled back just as a bullet clipped the edge of the door. She could see the blurry outline of a female approaching the entryway through the frosted windows on either size of it, her shoes squeaking the floorboards of the front porch beneath each step. Eva waited until the woman tried to enter the house – when the door was kicked in, Eva had her boot ready to smash it the other way. The Hunter's arm was caught as planned. Eva jammed down on it several times until the grip on the Hunter's gun was lost. Kanone hurriedly retrieved it while Eva swung the door aside and caught the woman in the face with her fist.

"I only wish I was wearing brass knuckles when I did that," she commented to the pretty blonde, who stumbled back against the wall of the foyer. "How dare you try to come after my boy." Eva lifted her gun and shot the woman in the forehead. The body fell to the ground. "Kanone, come here." With the tip of her gun, she waved at the body. "See her? I want you to take everything useful from her and keep it on you. Make sure you get her radio."

Kanone had never been given the opportunity to check a body for ammo or weapons. She knew they were running out of time to get to the Rutherford house, but her son needed some field practice. Eventually, the Hunters were going to come after him one day when he was alone. He needed to know how to work fast.

"Hurry it up," she urged. Kanone was taking one thing off at a time – each magazine and grenade – and transferring it to his pockets or belt.

Evangeline kneeled next to the body and helped. If she wasn't scared shitless by the thought of what might have happened to Lydia and Eyes, Kanone would have been left to learn on his own. She ripped the sleeve of the woman's blouse and took the knife and sheath concealed at the wrist. The next lesson she taught her son would be how to tell where someone hid their weapons – not just to take them, but for the sake of being prepared when that person came at him.

"Good enough," she said to her boy, standing and heading out the door. "You'll need knives, ammo, and grenades the most. Remember what I said about knives, Kanone?"

As they raced down the street, Kanone panted, "Always keep one on hand in case you need it to cut something."

"Exactly," said Eva proudly. "If the others end up stuck in a body and you can't retrieve them, never use your last one unless your life depends on it. You might need it for other things, but mostly, never let yourself get in a position where you have to use your only knife."

When she approached the door of the Rutherford home, her heart fell. The front porch had been snapped away from the hinges in the house, and thin trails of smoke were curling out of the open entryway.


	5. Chapter 5

_**AN:** I probably failed at it, but I wanted to show that Kanone and Eyes are still kids towards the end of this. Writing people with such high intelligence is difficult, I must say. I also want to mention that Skunky and Aza are to blame for all this Evangeline Hilbert love. I was looking through old conversations about her last night and realized how much that has to do with how I write her now. We had so many theories about her...haha._

_Reviews and critique are welcomed._

* * *

><p>Eva's pace slowed from hesitation. Despite all her training, her concentration took some persuasion to snap back. <em>Fucking weak, Evangeline – you can help anyone if you're too emotional<em>, she thought, picking her feet back up. She didn't pay attention to Kanone; instincts told Eva that he shadowed her obediently.

Much of the living room furniture had been flipped to the side. The rug at the hearth was crumpled. Eva cautiously walked through the fragments of a lamp, trying not to alert any of the Hunters that might be in the house of her presence.

Her heart leapt when she saw a foot sticking out from behind one of the sofas. Hunters didn't wear high heeled sandals with that particular anklet – the one Eva had given Lydia when they were college students. She hurried over and found her friend staring down at the ground, on her hands and knees. Lydia was gasping lightly, but seemed unharmed.

"He chased after Eyes!" said Lydia when Eva kneeled down next to her.

Eva dared not touch her when she was so upset. "Where did they head?" she asked steadily.

"Through the kitchen," she said, finally straightening up. With the help of the back of the furniture, she stood. Her body swayed unsteadily for a moment, but she inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and must have been thinking of her son. Eva knew that feeling. She may have lacked all the soft maternal instincts other mothers had, but there was no questioning that when someone was after their children, parents could summon unimaginable strength.

"Kanone, stay with Lydia," said Eva sharply. "I'm going for Eyes."

Evangeline did not wait for her son to answer before she dashed out into the hall and followed it to the kitchen. The knife block was on the floor, much of the cutlery scattered across the tiles. Near the sink began a thick trail of blood that followed all the way into the dining room. Eyes stood over the corpse of a hunter, one of the knives clasped in his hand. His whole body was smeared with the thick, crimson substance that pooled out of multiple wounds all over the Hunter.

Evangeline hurried over to Eyes' side.

"Is he dead?" she asked. She knew the answer and didn't look up from her gaze over the body. She kicked out one of her boots and let the body flop over. The front of the Hunter had been massacred by the blade.

"He chased after me," said Eyes with eerie calmness. "I had to protect myself."

"You did a good job," said Eva in approval. "I'm not sure what your mother will say, though…"

She reached down to take the knife from him. His fingers clenched tighter around it and his gaze never shifted away from the body.

"Eyes, let go," she said firmly. His grip relaxed only a little, but it was enough for her to pry the knife from his hand.

"Will Mum be angry?" The child glanced up at her finally.

"It was in self-defense." Eva was firm on that belief. "You remember what we told you about the Blade Children? How you and Kanone are brothers?"

Eyes nodded. Evangeline pulled him to her side in a hug, rubbing his back. "So she won't be upset?"

"She'll be hysterical," said Eva, laughing even though at that moment, she felt like crying and she wasn't sure why.

* * *

><p>Kanone helped Eyes scrub the blood out of the floors of the Rutherford house while his mother went to dispose of the bodies and Lydia rested upstairs. His arms ached, but he continued to work merrily – it was better than giving cheek to his mother when she told them she wanted them to get it wiped up and mopped properly before the sleeping draught she'd given Lydia faded.<p>

"I don't want her to find out what happened until I get back," Eva had said firmly to both of them. "If that happens, nothing in the world will protect either of you from me."

Eyes and Kanone had obediently nodded and set to work. They would have been in for a great deal of pain if the Hunter had bled all over carpet. It was to their advantage that the Rutherford home was mostly wooden floors that had been polished well enough that the red substance hadn't seeped through much. With a little sanding and a new coat of varnish, the floors would easily be restored to their former glory. It was still fresh in Kanone's mind what he'd done to the carpet in his mother's study months before. His arms had ached then, too, but he'd been stupid enough to complain. That hadn't boded well for him.

Kanone realized during his chore that humans had a great deal of blood. He had often helped his mother clean after she'd butchered a rabbit but it had never been as bad as what they encountered in the Rutherford home. The boys were both soaked. His mother would make them get rid of their clothes. He supposed she might burn them.

He had no idea what she might be doing with the corpses of the Hunters. There were at least three of them. The third had been the worst.

"You killed a Hunter," said Kanone. It was something he had yet to experience, but he wasn't jealous or relieved either way. "What did it feel like?" he asked.

"I don't remember." Eyes dropped a bloody rag into the metal trash bin Eva had brought in. "It was fast…"

Kanone couldn't imagine what it would be like. His heart was still thumping, and every so often, he would lift his head to the window and stare out into the backyard for evidence of more Hunters. His mother hadn't left him without his pocketknife and a gun. He often fingered both with his rust-colored fingertips.

Once the boys had finished the dining room, they moved to the kitchen. Eyes took care of the floor while Kanone gathered up the kitchen knives and washed them in the sink, rinsing away the dried blood on his hands and arms in the process.

They had barely finished their work when Evangeline returned. She surveyed the floors critically before sighing. "That'll do." She eyed the two boys thoroughly. "Okay, I think we need to get those clothes off of you. I'll get rid of them for you, so hand them to me. I don't want you tracking blood through the rest of the house, so strip down to your underwear."

Kanone had to sit down on a stool while Evangeline took off his bloody sneakers for him. Eyes waited his turn. He needed more help to get out of the clothes without leaving red smeared across his bare feet – otherwise, they would both need carried up to the bathroom lest they leave stains on the carpet in the hallways and on the stairs.

"I want both of you in the shower. Don't just wet down your hair and climb into new clothes." Her most dangerous look was sent in Kanone's directions. He grinned up at her with feigned innocence. "Don't try me, Kanone."

He didn't answer. A bath sounded very good to him for once, and he had no intention of trying to fool her – he had learned quickly she didn't tolerate that nonsense. There was dried blood caked under his fingernails he was hoping to remove soon. He had swiped his hair out of his face and left behind traces of red. There was a difference between being legitimately filthy and being told to get in the tub when he didn't feel dirty.

Kanone followed Eyes to the bathroom and both hopped in the shower together. They were used to taking showers and baths together since they were babies, and they took turns with the shampoo, even helping each other to scrub down their hair. Once they were finished with most of the rinsing, they filled up the bathtub with bubbles and toys and played around.

The whole incident had nearly been forgotten as they splashed each other, soaking the floor of the bathroom thoroughly.

Eyes smiled lightly as Kanone sent a wave of water in his direction. "Stop it," he muttered.

The door swung open, and Eva stood in the entryway, glaring at them. "My _god_," she muttered, noticing the floor.

"We'll clean it up," said Kanone.

"Damn right you will. And would you keep it down? I can hear you giggling all the way from downstairs! If you haven't forgotten, Eyes' mum is trying to sleep."

"Right," said Kanone, bowing his head contritely. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry," said Eyes, nearly at the same time Kanone did.

The fun had died then, even when Evangeline left. Both of them climbed out of the tub. Kanone stared at his fingertips. They were wrinkled anyway, and the water was getting too cold. They dried off and then used their towels to soak up the puddles on the tiles. They left them there and grabbed fresh ones from the cabinet to wrap up in. The two hurried down the hallway to Eyes' bedroom.

They were so accustomed to spending the night together that both had clothes at the other's house. It was late enough they got into their pajamas and sat on the bed, bored – everything they wanted to do was noisy in some way. Kanone knew his mother was in a short temper; he wasn't foolish enough to push his luck further. The sun outside had already set, and eventually, both boys curled up under the covers, snuggled together.


	6. Chapter 6

_**AN:** Ever noticed how parents can't help dressing up their little kids, and the kids hate it? Yeah, Kanone and Eyes aren't any different at their age. _

_I hope I made it clear on what language is being used at what times so far. I've been concerned about that. It was not my idea to put Eyes' birthday on Christmas, I stole that from Azalee and she can throttle me for it if she likes and I will change it. Or she might have had it on Christmas Eve. I can't remember. It doesn't matter. I'll probably bother very little with birthdays in this story, it was just part of a conversation! _

_Reviews are appreciated, concrit is even better! (: Regardless, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

><p>Rio noticed a badge amongst the things Kiyotaka had set down on the table in the small living room of his apartment. She gazed at it steadily as she ate pudding for breakfast. Living with Kiyotaka was<em> fun<em> – he let her have sweets in place of meals sometimes. It was a nice contrast to the dried out bread her uncle had repeatedly given her for days on end.

"You're a cop, Kiyotaka-sama?" she asked.

He took a sip of his tea as he stood in the doorway near the kitchen before he nodded. "I'm a detective, to be more specific." He strode over and sat down at the table across from her, placing his tea next to his badge and car keys. "Rio-chan, I need to go to England."

"What about me?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well," he began, "I thought you could go with me. We've been practicing your English and you're learning quickly. There's a lot of work to be done over there. How many other Blade Children have you met?"

None, she realized – not a single one of her half-siblings had ever been introduced to her. The Hunters that had come after her must have met more of them than she had. It wasn't a very appealing thought.

"I didn't think you had. Would you like to meet two of them? One of them plays the piano – in fact, his mother is eager to have me listen to him and give him a few tips. She wanted me to become his instructor, but I'm afraid I have a job here in Japan to look after." He smiled then in a manner she interpreted as mischievous. "I'm going to play hooky for a few days."

"Can you do that?"

"Rio-chan, you would be amazed by the things I can do." He winked at her, and she grinned. Living with Kiyotaka was the same as moving in with a magician – she had no idea what to expect him when he pulled the next trick out of his bag.

* * *

><p>Kanone felt like a doll. Evangeline had always made sure he had nice clothes as well as casual outfits, but with Lydia's help, the mothers had gone overboard. His stiff dress shoes hadn't been broken in and his feet could barely breathe through the polished black leather. The tweed pants and matching vest made the skin on his legs itch unbearably. His shirt had been starched heavily, the corners of his collar rather sharp. His hair had been combed back, flat on his head, and his mother had applied just a bit of mousse to tame it. She'd even put him in a <em>matching tweed<em> _cap_.

Eyes looked no different, but at least he didn't have to wear a cap, and his tweed was black and gray instead of puke brown and dull orange. Together, the two of them were told to stay inside the Rutherford home.

"If you get one stain on those clothes, take them off, or somehow get dirty, I will beat the tar out of you," Evangeline told Kanone.

"It's a good thing I don't have any tar in me, then," said Kanone brightly.

"Fine, then. I'll give you the smacking of your life, young man. Of course, that's only if you're still alive after I fire several rounds in your direction." Evangeline smiled at her son triumphantly. "Now go into the music room and listen to Eyes play the piano."

Eyes and Kanone did not feel like piano, be it listening or performing. The two of them wandered upstairs, sat on Eyes' bed, and played a board game between the two of them. It passed the half hour until they were summoned back downstairs. The reason they'd been dressed up like a couple of church boys in the first place was to meet Kiyotaka Narumi. He was due to arrive in five minutes with a little girl named Rio Takeuchi in tow. They had been warned to be on their best behavior for days.

"Do you think he's really that special?" Kanone had whispered to Eyes as they made their way down the stairs.

Eyes never replied, but both of them knew the answer. Mr. Narumi was a famous pianist, but he had broken his fingers on purpose only a few months ago. He was also the one that had murdered their father and put an end to the Blade Children project. Kanone thought he seemed more like a threat and a crazy. He knew from plenty of mishaps that broken bones were no fun. Removed ones were even worse, though.

Kanone and Eyes were brought into the living room and told to sit like two angels. Evangeline warned them once again that they were to act as two little gentleman, and the way she said it was in a sweet tone that secretly said, "Don't fuck with me or else." Kanone didn't like this side of her very well – she was serious and elegant and…when had his mother become so pretty?

"My mum is wearing nice clothes," he whispered to Eyes.

"She's still wearing pants," said Eyes.

"But they're not jeans."

"She looks nice."

Kanone loathed the idea of complimenting her when she was the sadistic mother who had hauled him upstairs with Eyes despite their protests and scrubbed their skin pink and made sure all the dirt she claimed they were covered in was gone. Then she'd dolled them up – she wanted to torment them! His mother had always had taste up until now, when it came to nice clothing! Denim was a prerequisite for many of the activities that took place in the Hilbert house. Running through one of his mother's gruesome obstacle courses sounded heavenly to his boyish mind; it was much better than wearing a silly outfit.

The doorbell chimed and Kanone twisted his body in his seat to catch a glimpse of Kiyotaka Narumi and Rio Takeuchi as they entered the foyer. He was met by the sharp gaze of Evangeline, who had poked her head in to check on them. She pointed at him directly and then jerked the aim of her finger down to the ground. Kanone sat back down, hands folded in his lap. When would this ordeal end?

Both boys stood as they had at their mothers' rehearsal (yes, they'd been forced to practice this moment!) when Mr. Narumi entered the room, dressed in a white suit with a lilac shirt on underneath. His hands were tucked into his blazer, and he smiled at the boys in a pleasant greeting. By the size of the little girl shadowing him, she couldn't have been another Blade Child! She wasn't old enough.

Rio was dressed mostly casual, Kanone noted with distain. She pranced into the room rather confidently in sandals with little flowers decorating the straps, and she wore a denim skirt with a matching jean jacket over a fairly plain white top. Kanone's face burned with humiliation. When he turned to share his indignation with Eyes, he was surprised to find that his best friend seemed indifferent.

"Hello, Mr. Narumi," said Eyes politely, bowing. His gaze slid over to Rio. "Miss Rio."

Kanone hurried to dip his head down respectfully in acknowledgement of their presence.

"You can both just call me Kiyotaka," said the man, smiling at them both. "Who dressed the two of you? You're adorable!" He gave them both pats on the head, his hands adjusting the position of Kanone's cap.

Both boys turned scarlet at Kiyotaka's compliment. Kanone was mortified enough he considered removing his hat, but his mother was in close vicinity and he would have been more embarrassed to be scolded.

"I would like to hear you play piano, Eyes," said Kiyotaka. "Your mother says you've been practicing for almost a year, and you're becoming quite good."

Kiyotaka whisked them off to the music room as if he lived there. He made himself at home on the piano bench next to Eyes while Kanone sat on a settee with Rio next to him. His mother and Lydia took chairs for themselves.

Rio was a giddy sort of girl, swinging her feet cheerfully with hands tucked under her knees as the music began. When Kiyotaka joined him with the use of his left hand, Kanone felt restless and bored. He often wanted to listen to Eyes play, but only for him. Why did it make him feel so jealous to have to share?

The adults released the children after dinner, which followed the piano session. Kanone had no idea what to say or do – keeping tidy wasn't his only worry. Rio was a stranger, and the two boys had never dealt with many girls their age.

"Do you have any toys?" asked Rio as they sat on the back veranda, all lined up glumly on lawn chairs.

"Nothing a girl would play with," said Kanone.

"I don't have room to keep many toys, so I'm not picky."

Kanone lifted his head up and stared at her. "You don't have toys?"

"Kiyotaka bought me a couple of stuffed animals and a jump rope!" The girl beamed.

Evangeline had never babied Kanone much, but Lydia had given him stuffed animals over the years. Eva preferred to give him toy soldiers, books, sports equipment, and darts. Eyes had even more in his closet – mostly board games, puzzles, books, and Lydia-approved gifts. Kanone couldn't imagine being reduced to nothing but two playthings, and even if he didn't have them, he had his childhood companion.

"Why don't you have toys?" asked Eyes.

"I have to travel light!" The girl grinned. If she was upset by her predicament, Kanone couldn't see a trace of it on her face or in her voice. "Kiyotaka says he'll buy me more for my birthday."

"My birthday and Christmas are the same day," said Eyes.

Kanone remembered then that his seventh birthday was coming up. He took off his hat and flipped it up in the air. He was sick of wearing it.

"So can we play with toys?" asked Rio desperately. She stood up and looked out into the yard longingly. There were lots of hills and forests that surrounded their private section of English countryside. Kanone longed to go wander off into it, climbing up into trees to get as high a view of his little world as he could.

"Let's go play out in the woods," said Kanone.

"We can't," reminded Eyes.

Kanone threw his hat down onto another chair. "We can change! Rio isn't dressed up, so why should we have to wear these stupid clothes?"

It didn't seem likely that Kanone or Eyes could convince their mothers that all their efforts in making them the most presentable boys in the world were wasted and they should be allowed to change and get filthy. It never worked that way. Evangeline was especially the kind of person who thought that if you did something, you went all the way, and you didn't gloss over things. Kanone had adapted to some of her rules and ways over the years. He just consciously chose to break a great many of them.

"Mum won't let us," he said, sighing. Eyes nodded his head mournfully.

Rio made an exasperated noise. "Momma's boys!" she complained.

Kanone would have gleefully attacked her with pocketknife if only teasingly, but he knew if he did, he would have to explain it to his mother. Whether he made an attempt on her life or not, he knew there was truth to what Rio said.

* * *

><p>Evangeline's opinion of Kiyotaka was that she did not like him. She had expected someone more refined, someone more like Lydia. For a pianist, he was unconventional, and she found parts of his personality intolerable. There was a hint of condescension in his voice whenever he made a joke.<p>

She found him more twisted than Yaiba Mizushiro. Once, long ago, Eva had thought highly of Yaiba until he made up that nonsense about the children becoming future serial killers which triggered the three factions including the Hunters. Since then, she'd been thankful of her training and background. She had that much in common with other mothers – she would protect her son even at the cost of her life. She couldn't imagine those obnoxious mothers who cooed over their babies and thought life's trials didn't get harder for their children than learning to walk and ride a bicycle. Evangeline couldn't remember when Kanone had taken his first steps. That boy was her little fighter. She felt a surge of pride as she realized her son could do many things on his own already that some teenagers were incapable of, and he was only days away from turning seven.

Evangeline and Kanone didn't _need_ Kiyotaka's help. It upset her further when he brought up the curse to her. He spoke in Japanese – possibly as a precaution in case the children were listening in.

She folded her arms over her chest. "There is no curse," she said flatly in English. "And you can drop the Japanese. Just because we're in England doesn't mean our children don't know other languages."

"Of course they know Japanese, and Kanone must know German, right, Frau Hilbert?" Kiyotaka smiled knowingly. It was the sort of face Evangeline itched to punch, but she didn't want to upset Lydia, who'd been sitting quietly in the drawing room by her side. Long before it was known that Kiyotaka had shot Yaiba and was involved in bankrupting the entire Blade Child project, Lydia had been a fan of him as a fellow pianist.

"Yes, he does," said Evangeline curtly, taking a sip from her tea.

"Your family is German."

"Yes."

"Germany is where I had my accident." Kiyotaka held up his fingers, which had healed significantly over time. He wriggled them stiffly.

"You did that on purpose," said Evangeline dryly. "That was no accident." She rested her elbow on the arm of her chair. "Why are you here? I thought this was about Eyes' piano, but you keep bringing up the Blade Children."

Kiyotaka's eyes darkened but the smile remained on his face. The bastard was hiding something from all of them. "Of course I came to listen to Eyes play, but didn't I do that already? I think he did very well. That sort of gift is to be expected from one of the Blade Children."

"That's what's to be expected of Lydia's son. She's the one who taught him." It was true that Eyes was of superior bloodlines, as well as Kanone – neither of the women would have bothered to have children with just anyone – but there was no reason to assume a child's skills were not taught and then honed through practice.

"Evangeline, you're so scary!" Kiyotaka chuckled in a way that a fool might believe was from nervousness, but anyone sharp could have sensed it was feigned. He straightened up and coughed lightly into his fist before he said, "I'm actually here to talk business."

"What sort of business?" Eva exchanged curious glances with Lydia. When it came down to anything involving the Blade Children, Lydia usually left Eva to handle the details. Evangeline knew more about how to deal with Hunters and the courage and wits to meet them face-on.

"Rio needs a mentor," said Kiyotaka. "Next summer, I would like to send her to live with you, Evangeline. I know what sort of training you give your son. Even though you've scrubbed him clean and dressed him up nicely, and you've done the same for yourself, the rumors and other details tell me that you aren't a refined woman."

Eva snorted. "What of it? If that's your indirect way of flattering me, I'm not convinced. So what if on more than one occasion, I mixed up baby bottle brushes and gun brushes? Give me a good reason to take the girl next summer. Why then and not now?"

"It's not yet time," said Kiyotaka, winking and shaking his finger at her. "I'm fond of her, like a daughter. I think I need a whole year to prepare before I can split with her." He shrugged in an exaggerated manner.

Eva didn't buy it. It was one thing that she taught her son how to fight, but hearing it from someone who sounded like an overly indulgent, wishy-washy parent was just suspicious. Then again, Rio was another Blade Child.

"I wouldn't ask you this for just Rio," said Kiyotaka darkly. "I'm going to need your help in the future, for other Blade Children. There are a lot of Hunters, and it isn't so easy to change their minds – I can't stop them all, no matter what I say to them."

Evangeline thought over this carefully. There was no reason for her to feel obliged to help any Blade Children other than Eyes and Kanone. Those boys mattered to her. At the same time, it would be good for Kanone to become a mentor to others – it would teach him responsibility and keep him from idling away his summers. Both Eyes and Kanone needed to be around others their age, too – children that were on the same intellectual level and hadn't been spoiled stupid by overindulgent parents.

"I have nearly a year to consider it," she said firmly. There was little that would make her agree with any proposal of Kiyotaka's immediately. She would let the bastard hang.

"Yes, you do."

She heard footsteps in the hallway. The noises paused as they passed certain rooms, but would start up again – she had a feeling the children were searching for them.

The young girl entered first, less exuberant than she'd behaved earlier during her arrival. If Evangeline had known that Kiyotaka and Rio would be dressed casually, she wouldn't have gussied up Kanone or Eyes.

But her eyes still narrowed when she noticed her son's cap was missing from his head, and he wasn't clutching it in his hands either.

"Where's your hat, Kanone?" asked Evangeline in a deadly calm voice.

The boy's green eyes widened momentarily. "I must have set it down somewhere. I'll go get it."

"You had better," she said, aiming a hand to thump him on the back of his skull. The boy ducked and she swiped at nothing more than air. She couldn't help but grin. His ability to react quickly to what was physically happening around him had improved.

He really would make a good teacher once he stopped being so much of a student, she thought proudly.


	7. Chapter 7

_**AN:** November is usually NaNoWriMo, so I disappear to write original fiction. But I felt like finally editing this chapter, which I wrote mostly before all that. I'm still writing chapter eight, though, so it might be a while before it follows. It's difficult trying to write out Ayumu as a child, and his family situation - I'm having trouble imagining just how it would be. _

_I have censored out the sex scene for the sake of the site's rules. I'd rather keep my account, even if I didn't find it that graphic. (But my standards are low anyway - I think anything vanilla is tame and safe and appopriate. Hurhur.)_

_I welcome concrit or tips!_

* * *

><p>Kanone felt his mother's eyes over his shoulder. The moving of the needle and thread through the canvas material paused.<p>

"Keep going," she chided.

"Why are we sewing, Mum?" he asked, staring disheartened at the life-sized arm he had sewn with a machine, leaving just enough of a gap to stuff it firmly. The last bit was almost closed up, though his previous work was a jumble of uneven stitches. "Why not just order a human dummy?"

"Sewing is a good practical skill. You can darn your own clothing from now on!"

He was surprised she hadn't taught him sooner. Most of his jeans were ripped up at the knees, but he didn't want those patched up. Like most young boys, his clothes got all sorts of holes in them, and most of them were irreparable. After some of his mother's routine practice rounds, his tees were shredded. She often just bought him packages of them in plain white and used the ruined shirts for rags. One rule he had learned early on in the Hilbert household was how to recycle and live resourcefully.

Even the very stuffing used for the dummy was taken from the stores of pillows that had become too flat over the years – the ones Eva hadn't packed with extra stuffing. The threadbare cloth leftover had as many uses as his shredded tees for patchwork or dust rags.

"What are we doing with this, Mum?"

Evangeline walked around the sofa and sat down next to him. She was sewing the dummy's hand, attaching the fingers. "Well, Kanone, we're going to use it for practice. I'm going to put it in clothing and we'll play hide-and-seek with the weapons. I'll time you."

Kanone grinned. "Cool!"

"I suppose it would seem that way, but I'm serious." She just shrugged after that; Kanone had feared she might go into a lecture about the Hunters. "When you finish up that arm, you can go to Eyes' house. I'll come get you around dinnertime."

"I'm seven now, I can walk by myself." Then he added for good measure, "Even when it's dark."

When she turned to study him critically, he smiled sweetly at her. It didn't change her mind. "Kanone, there are people out there trying to kill you. I wish I could say you were big enough to handle them on your own, but…" she faltered.

"You always tell me if I want it done, do it myself." He felt a surge of victory at using her lecture against her.

Eva suddenly embraced him. "You can do all you want by yourself when you learn everything I've taught you in training! It makes me happy to know you're eager to take care of yourself. You're growing into a fine young man."

Being taken in his mother's arms caught him off guard. It wasn't often she openly showed her affection – she displayed her love in all the ways she took care of him. He was bright enough to know that a lot of other parents never went so far for their children. Evangeline was anything but conventional, but she was still his loving mother.

She tousled his hair a bit before she released him. "When you go over to see Eyes, give Lydia that bread I baked her – the one I put in plastic wrap and set on the cabinet."

Kanone hurried to finish patching up the rest of the gap, occasionally pressing a little more stuffing down the hole to guarantee the arm was stiff. His mother had wanted the dummy to be as rounded out as possible.

He happily took off down the lane with the loaf of bread tucked under his arm a few minutes later. Before he reached the lawn, he could hear the melody of the piano. He tiptoed around the edge of the house and glanced up at the second-floor window of the music room. There were some sturdy but dying vines crawling up a trellis along the side of the house. It would be awkward with the bread, but he wanted to glance in on Eyes badly enough that he began the climb up the latticed wood.

Eyes usually stopped playing when Kanone came around. For once, Kanone just wanted to hear him for a little while. It cut into the time they could goof off, but a few minutes just to listen to what Eyes was performing wouldn't make a big difference!

Kanone was aware that the bread tried to slip from under his arm. He paused to readjust it and then make it up the trellis with only the use of one hand. He was already halfway up when he realized the entire idea was stupid. He could have run inside and dropped off the bread and persuaded Lydia – no, no, she _never_ would have allowed him to do this. If she were to catch him, he'd be subjected to her worrisome fretting. Worse than that, she'd tell his mother.

At least the bread was wrapped in plastic, if it did drop! As long as no one saw it on the ground, he could brush it off and who would be the wiser?

Kanone hauled his bottom onto the window ledge and placed the bread on his lap. With his hand blocking out the reflection of light from the outside over his eyes, he gazed in on his best friend.

The piano continued to play, but somewhere in the middle of the song, Eyes lifted a hand and waved hello without glancing up. Kanone's shadow had cast itself over the floor of the music room, and part of it had fallen across the keys.

Eyes eventually stood and opened up one side of the casement. Kanone swung his feet round and dropped them on the floor of the music room, snatching up the loaf of bread as he stood.

"I brought your mum some bread, from my mum," said Kanone, holding it out to Eyes.

"Ah." Eyes took it, critically looking over it.

"I didn't drop it. And it's in plastic anyway! Mum baked some this morning."

Kanone grasped Eyes' hand in his own and pulled him from the music room and down the stairs. He kept lookout for Lydia, and when she found them sitting on the back porch after depositing the loaf in the kitchen, she might have assumed he'd come through the backyard and not one of her second story windows. Kanone cleverly brought up the bread as a means to distract her.

When she was gone, he pulled out a knife he had sharpened the day before. "Look what my mother gave me for my birthday," he said, flicking his wrist to show it to his best friend. He let his fingers slide along the flat side of the blade and dangled it to let Eyes see the ivory handle. "Mum says I have to take care of it."

Eyes reached out for it, and Kanone slipped it down into his fingers. Eyes twisted it around as if holding it was the only way he could view it. Kanone wondered why Lydia never gave her son a knife – didn't she want to protect him from the Hunters?

"You can have one of my others," said Kanone. He took back his knife, folding it over and slipping it back into his rolled up shirt sleeve. The weight of it against the fabric gave him some comfort.

"Mum doesn't like knives," said Eyes, smiling derisively. "She locked away the ones in the kitchen." This must have been a recent development – they had always been out in the open, before Eyes killed that Hunter…

"I'll bring one over next time!" Kanone grinned pleasantly at his friend. "Don't get caught with it. If you do, tell her I left it." What were big brothers for, if they couldn't take the blame?

"I won't get caught," promised Eyes, and the boys' eyes glinted with mischief.

"I'll teach you how to use it, too," said Kanone. He was proud of his skills with a blade and eager to show his brother so they could play all sorts of games with them. "Mum has lots of targets in the garage."

The two happily began to chatter about what they might do with knives. In Kanone's case, he was able to talk about what he had accomplished and was sure Eyes would know soon enough.

* * *

><p>Evangeline slipped into the Rutherford house. The weekdays had come and gone, as had the warmer weather. Cool autumn breezes swept up dried leaves and scratched them against the cement walkway behind her as she retreated into the heated home. She clicked closed the front door as silently as the hinges would allow for and swept her eyes over to the dark living room. A light entered through the kitchen door, illuminating objects in the living room gold. Eva could smell tea and fresh toast in the air, and her stomach suddenly felt empty.<p>

Somewhere upstairs, Eyes and Kanone were tucked away in a bed. It seemed the only time she ever could be alone with Lydia was on the weekend evenings, away from prying children's eyes and the exhausting of training her son as well as herself day after day. There were times it was nice to get away from the smell of gunpowder.

The only scents she craved were that of the food in the kitchen and the smell of Lydia's shampooed hair as she ran her fingers through it and buried her lips against the soft skin that curved up from Lydia's neck to her jaw. Whenever Eva kissed her there, Lydia would giggle. I was more satisfying a sound than the staccato clap of gunfire. It made Eva feel domestic.

When Eva stepped into the lit kitchen, Lydia glanced up from her book on the table, a piece of jam-smother toast pinched between the fingers of one hand while the other held her page.

"Is that homemade?" asked Eva, referring to the jam.

"As much as the bread," said Lydia. "Thanks for it having Kanone deliver it yesterday. It was a bit smashed in one corner, but that doesn't harm the taste."

Eva tugged out the chair opposite Lydia and began to slice off a sliver of bread. "When did you make jam? It smells like raspberry."

"This afternoon," said Lydia. "The boys helped me. I think most of the raspberries were swiped, though. I had to make a smaller batch, in the end."

Eva grinned. "Their stomachs will punish them enough for that later."

She stood and placed her slice in the toaster before going over to the kettle and preparing a cup of tea. It was nice to relax for once, but when Eva leaned against the cabinet for a moment while pouring water from the kettle, she could feel the sheath and the thick blade beside it on her belt. It was all tucked away under her loose shirt, out of Lydia's sight.

"There was enough jam for you to take home," said Lydia, pointing to the cabinet. Eva's eyes fell upon the decorated jar sitting in front of the microwave.

"Thanks," said Eva, turning away to hide the warmth that filled her cheeks. She swirled around the contents of her cup with a spoon to distract her from the thought of something else just as fruity that was tucked away in Lydia's underwear drawer. Suddenly, she hungered for something other than food.

As Eva sat down, Lydia pulled a ribbon between the pages of her book and snapped it shut. The two ate in silence. The wind made the house talk around them – the window croaked, the walls groaned, and the tree limbs scratched against the siding. A flurry of leaves danced on the other side of the window. They made Eva edgy. She didn't like when everything moved around her. The countryside had always been dead except for animal sounds, and those were distinct enough. She knew when two low pair of eyes gazed brightly at her from the dark – caused by the light from the lamp in the backyard reflecting from them – it was usually a fox or some other creature. It was harder to hear or see Hunters when the weather acted up.

"Let's go upstairs," suggested Eva, swallowing down the last bite of her toast with the last gulp of her tea.

Lydia appeared relieved. She always waited on Eva for a sign that they could move upstairs.

They wandered upstairs to the master bedroom, careful not to make any loud noises or disturb the boys as they slept. It wasn't until they were behind a locked door that Eva swept away Lydia's golden hair from her neck and planted a kiss there. It was a needy, lingering touch that left Lydia gasping gently. Eva's lips moved up her jaw. Soon, Lydia's light laughter left her throat, and like a sweet melody, filled the silence of the room. Eva guided her to a chair next to the bed.


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Ah, another chapter! I want to say that I've posted the smutty ending of chapter seven on my livejournal, so if you're friends with me on that site, you can finish it there! I just refuse to post it here and risk my account being banned. Sorry about that! (I would link the LJ entry, but links and this site never mix well.)_

_I'm anxious to continue this story - I had a ton of inspiration for it the other day, though I might write one part of it as a side-story. It might be all right to include it in this story, too, because it goes along with what Evangeline and Kanone discuss in the second half of this chapter. We'll see, right? This is a bit of a short chapter and I'm used to writing much longer ones these days, so it feels rather awkward to post it, even if it seems all right? I've poured over it about ten times to critique it, so I suppose I might as well just post it already. _

* * *

><p>"Smile, Ayumu!"<p>

The boy frowned as the camera clicked, turning away too late – Kiyotaka had already snapped the photo, preserving Ayumu's annoyance. The Polaroid slid out, and the older brother pinched it between his fingers and eagerly waited for the image to form.

"I have the cutest little brother around, even if he doesn't like to smile for photos." Kiyotaka placed the camera back in its case and set it on the kitchen cabinet. He was now in his other apartment – the one where no one had heard of the Blade Children. This was the address where he took visitors. Most of the time, Ayumu lived under this roof.

Rio had been left in charge of the other apartment. While others would have gasped at the idea of leaving a child on her own, Kiyotaka knew he could trust the girl to take care of herself. If anyone dared hurt her, she already knew how to take them out. He was beginning to wonder why he'd even asked for Evangeline Hilbert's help in training Rio. The girl had already shown a keen interest in explosions, which had prompted Kiyotaka to give her all sorts of print-outs on the subject along with the starting materials. A week later, she'd presented him with a box of homemade hand grenades.

It wasn't as if Kiyotaka never visited Rio. Kiyotaka dropped by the apartment at least twice a day before and after work to drop off fresh meals and the occasional gift. He doted on her like a daughter. He knew he would never have children of his own, so it was nice to be able to play father even if it was only for pretend, only to mold them into his gears for later use.

One of his gears was due to pick Kiyotaka up later that evening. Her name was Madoka, and he had skillfully managed to make her tolerant of his presence enough to date him. It was to be their second time going out. She had been fun, if only because he genuinely liked her. At first, some of his teasing had repelled her, but the turnabout was interesting – he put on his charm enough to indulge her without going too far. It wouldn't be hard to make her love him within the next few months.

He anticipated a good evening with her.

"Ayumu, do you have everything packed?" asked Kiyotaka, settling into a chair. He glimpsed at the photo. It had already finished development and showed his brother's round little face set in perpetual unhappiness. "You should smile more often in pictures."

Ayumu nudged the duffle bag in front of him with the tip of his sneaker to indicate that he was physically ready. His following question proved that he wasn't prepared mentally. "Do I really have to go back?"

"Just for tonight," said Kiyotaka. He wondered if he ought to feel worse, sentencing his brother to their parents' house for even just twelve or so hours – most it was during the nighttime when no one was awake. Kiyotaka knew his brother never slept well over at their parents' home. That boy could nap anywhere but in that house – if someone had given him a rock out in the burning sun, Ayumu would have pulled a jacket over it, curled up, and fallen asleep.

"I can take care of myself."

"The neighbors would call me in if I left you home alone overnight," said Kiyotaka, chuckling.

Ayumu didn't say anything after that. He probably wouldn't talk to Kiyotaka the rest of the weekend. Still, even this part of the plan was necessary. Where else would Ayumu feel despair, but at the very home where only Kiyotaka's childhood images plastered the walls, and where no one even bothered to utter his little brother's name? In fact, no one paid any attention to Ayumu at all. It really wasn't any different to leave him alone in the apartment, but that wouldn't make a sufficient gear out of him.

Kiyotaka tried to block it out of his mind. It was necessary, he reasoned. Everything had its purpose in the end, and it would be right and just, no matter how badly it might appear to others.

* * *

><p>When Kanone came home, he found his mother leaning against the kitchen counter, hands folded over her chest. Most boys would have scooted to the far wall, edging around her. He had learned his mother detested that timidity. With bold steps, he walked over and stood in front of her.<p>

"Yes, Mum?" He didn't sense that she was angry with him. Had he done something wrong recently? He went through everything he had done that day, but came up clean. Then he realized it might have been something from earlier that week, but the list of wrongdoings began to grow. He couldn't sort out which one might've earned him a lecture. Some of the misdeeds he came up would have had him trembling under her glower, but his mother didn't look severe. _It couldn't have been that…_

No, it definitely wasn't the new cat he'd brought home the other day, either.

Evangeline Hilbert was too calm for any of the things he came up with.

"You need to stop sharing what you learn in my training with Eyes," said Evangeline firmly. "You're not in a whole lot of trouble for it, but you will be if you don't stop. You've been giving Eyes knives and showing him how to toss them around. Don't think his mother doesn't see what the two of you are doing! She doesn't want him involved with the same stuff I teach you."

Kanone nodded, feigning contrition. "I didn't mean anything by it. He asked, so I showed him."

Evangeline shook her head. "That doesn't mean you can go against her rules, Kanone. We have to respect how she wants to raise Eyes."

Kanone eyed his mother suspiciously. If there was anyone who hid things about Eyes from Lydia Rutherford, it was her. He remembered plenty of mischief they'd committed at her encouragement. Afterwards, they'd both sworn to secrecy.

Evangeline finally smirked after her son had glared at her long enough. "Okay, okay – just be careful, Kanone. Both of you need to hide it a little better."

Kanone grinned. "Mum…"

"Lydia would kill me," she murmured.

"Never," he said in an attempt to comfort her.

Evangeline gazed out the window past him for a bit, and then straightened up, pulling away from the kitchen counter. She stretched out her arms. "All right, time for you to wash up for supper, Kanone. Afterwards…"

Evangeline stared down at her son sharply, and Kanone suppressed a shudder. "Yes?" he whispered.

"We have to talk about that cat you dragged home."

"I'll go wash my hands!" Kanone darted out of the kitchen before his mother could say anything more, and then he took an unusually long time bending over the sink to clean up.


End file.
